The Mankato Clinic Foundation awards grant to Feeding Our Communities Partners

Thanks to the Mankato Clinic Foundation, Feeding Our Communities Partners (FOCP) is receiving $5,000 to be used for the BackPack Food Program.
 
“This funding is essential to sustaining the program that our community has helped to build,” said Kristin Weeks-Duncanson, board chair for Feeding Our Communities Partners. “We are meeting the needs of local, hungry kids every week and grants like this help to fund that process. When we bring this program to a school, we do so with the promise that we are there to stay. The Mankato Clinic Foundation is helping us keep that promise with this funding.”
 
Currently, the BackPack Food Program provides a weekend’s worth of well-balanced, easy-to-prepare meals and snacks to over 940 students in all fifteen elementary schools in Blue Earth County and North Mankato. Volunteers assemble ziptop bags with breakfast, lunch and snacks and then deliver the food packs to schools every Thursday. Teachers discreetly distribute the food packs to students on Fridays. Food packs are also provided for extended school breaks such as Winter Break and Spring Break. Over the course of the school year, the program provides approximately 210 meals and 105 snacks to each participating student.
 
The Mankato Clinic Foundation provides resources to organizations and endeavors that effectively promote and improve community health and wellness. Since the primary focus of the Foundation is to support the health and well-being of the community, projects and programs supported include education and scholarship initiatives focused on health care, health education and wellness.
 
The physicians at the Mankato Clinic provide the majority of the Foundation funding as a means to give back to the community by providing support to organizations which strive to improve health and wellness. Grants are awarded on a quarterly basis and are considered only through the application process. Applications can be obtained at mankatoclinic.com.
 
About the Mankato Clinic Foundation: The mission of the Mankato Clinic Foundation is to encourage and support the health and well-being of our community through initiatives that promote and improve community wellness. Annual initiatives made possible by the Mankato Clinic Foundation include community grants, scholarships for students pursuing careers in health, Project Kindness and Partnership in Health in Greater Mankato schools.